Flans and fiestas

Flans and fiestas are potential disappointments for newcomers to Spain.  An English-speaker’s flan is generally an exciting affair involving fruit, jelly, cream, sponge and other calorie-laden ingredients but a Spanish flan reaches the table as an unexciting version of crème caramel. 

A flan may now be disguised with different flavours and an unexpected addition or two – pine nuts, for instance, or cheese.  Sadly, there is no denying that underneath the tarting-up a flan is no tart and resembles solidified custard.

What European English speakers identify as custard is crema inglesa (really English cream).  When thicker and gooier it is a plural natillas, always eaten cold and so popular that they are made on an industrial scale and sold alongside yoghourts – yogures and another favourite, rice pudding – arroz con leche and again, never eaten warm. 

Another setback is discovering that una fiesta is what we know as a Bank Holiday, which comes as a welcome break but does not entail all-singing, all-dancing jollity with bunting, streamers and lots to drink.  This type of event is instead referred to in the plural – how not in a language which consistently pluralises what is so often singular in any other? – as fiestas. 

Some fiestas are more mdest than others...

Cities, towns, villages and hamlets all have yearly fiestas patronales in honour of a locally-revered saint, holy patron or sacred event.  Based on piety they have evolved into entertainment that is more profane than sacred and a very merry time is had by all.  Things get even more cheerful during the Moors and Christians fiestas – fiestas de Moros y Cristianos which are a salute southern Spain’s Moorish past. 

The first were held in 1588 in Caudete (now in Albacete province, but then part of Valencia) although the most famous belong to Alcoy and Villajoyosa, which are both in Alicante. 

These fiestas provide a chance to dress up, let off fireworks, fight mock battles, eat and (especially) drink.  It is telling that they are known as Moors and Christians, not Christians and Moors, and although the invaders always lose the last mock battle, more people want to be Moors than Christians. 

Back in the singular, una fiesta is a party where food, wine, conversation and music all flow. Un festejo is more of a festivity or celebration and the verb festejar means to celebrate and/or to feast. 

This could also be translated into English with the French borrowing to fete which strictly speaking should be written as fête with a circumflex denoting the former presence of a long-lost letter S.  And there we are, almost back to fiesta.

For many, a fête conjures up a rained-upon, washed-out garden fête, a fate worse than summery death.  This type of fate is translated as destino, suerte (which in this context means luck in the sense of lot) and sino which leads a hectic double life as an occasional substitute for but.

The Spanish are supposed to have a personal, gloomy and even doomed relationship with fate.  Possibly because of this, destino is synonymous with destination as well as destiny so there is nothing preordained or fatalistic about un tren con destino Madrid, which is merely a Madrid-bound train. 

The adjective fatal is no less fatal in Spanish than English but is a preferred adjective for hypochondriacs and me encuentro fatal means I feel awful even when the complainer has a 100 per cent chance of survival.  Fatal is also a favourite with the hypercritical and esa blusa te sienta fatal is an unforgiving you look awful in that blouse.